I've been running around like crazy over the past day and a half. Oh, and I finally resolved the issue with my sweaty puppy. We shaved our longhaired wiener dog for his desert living.
Post hair cut:
He is much happier now and runs around like a crazy person.
I had my second interview yesterday. I think it went well, but we'll have to see what happens. I should hear if I got the job or not either at the end of this week or the beginning of next. Either way though, I still can't get the idea of grad school out of my head. I really want to get my master's in French comp lit. We'll see. I definitely want to tour Arizona State someday soon and maybe go talk to the departments.
While sitting in traffic for an hour and 10 minutes (is that a bad sign for a future commute?!) I devoured this:
Vanilla roobios iced tea, banana and chocolate Clif Bar. Ugh, I had to wake up around 6ish, took a shower, dried my hair and then grabbed some food and scurried to the car in order to make my interview. By 9 p.m. last night, I was EXHAUSTED. Usually I'll wake up between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m., so that would take a bit of getting used to.
Considering the circumstances, dinner was quick and easy. Chicken marinated in mango habanero sauce, chunky chick peas from Costco that I made into a salad with spinach, tomatoes, carrots and celery, and a cheesy biscuit.
The night ended with an eerie mix of storms: dust, thunder and rain. That brought in some humidity and dropped the temperature into the 90s. The rain and dust, however, ruined our pretty cars, washed the night prior. So my freshly-washed car is now dusty and spotty.
Obviously, that amped up my desire to clear out the garage. My Taurus (ugh, yes, I know I need a new car) now sits in the garage, free from dust storms. I've also done a great deal of research on fitness clubs here. Although I've never been a member of a gym, I think I might do it here! It's cheap, air conditioned and has kickboxing/Zumba/yoga classes. What more could you ask for?!?!
Sleeping through the storms, I arose around my usual time before an eye doctor appointment and new contact lenses. I wanted something quick and easy again, so a repeat of my typical breakfast resurfaced.
Cereal and fruit: never fails.
Let's skip through my lunch and focus on the more interesting meal of the day. I had a craving for margaritas so I started looking up Mexican side dishes to go with the frozen taquitos we already had in stock. Up came two I couldn't resist: pineapple mango salsa and camote, which is sweet potatoes cooked in honey butter.
An unexpected twist... THE SALSA WITH THE SWEET POTATOES! It was really good. I enjoyed each part individually enormously, but together was unreal.
And oh yeah, I never did have that margarita :(
;)
Something to look forward to tomorrow night: FREE CONCERT!! Expect a full recap to come.
It's been one of those days. I would say one that makes me look forward to the weekend, but I don't have a job right now so every day is like the weekend for me! I have all the free time in the world, but can't run because of a bum knee. How perfect.
Anyways, I woke up to an e-mail that absolutely blew my mind. A few months back I applied for what I thought was the PERFECT JOB for me. I worked at the Visitor Center as an undergrad at UC Santa Barbara as a tour guide and vice president of the association. I got to work closely with admissions counselors and many of my co-workers are still there.
Imagine my surprise when several positions opened up for admissions counselors!!! I knew the people hiring, I worked with them and I have experience working with prospective students at UC Santa Barbara! Fingers crossed, I waited. And waited, and waited until the July 17th closing date. After the 17th came and went, I assumed I wasn't being considered for an interview and chalked it up to yet another unsuccessful application. But this morning, I found an e-mail telling me I had been selected to move on and I had an interview to schedule IN Santa Barbara ON Tuesday. WHAT?!?!?!?! The WEEK I move is the week I move on to the next step?!?! With a heavy heart I e-mailed back my former co-worker and person responsible for hiring and told her they contacted me about a month too late, and that I had already moved out of the state.
Total bummer. It put a damper on my entire day. That was my ideal job -- within realistic reach that is -- and I passed on it. The next job that comes my way better make me feel at peace with that decision! Next on my plate, another e-mail saying I couldn't renew my contact order online because my prescription had expired!!! Seriously?!?! I don't have vision coverage so I have to pay out of pocket for an eye exam and get to pay a lot more for new contacts/glasses. Luckily I did a bit of reading online and found that the Costco here has an eye doctor. They're lower priced anyways, so they don't take insurance. But it's still a pretty high cost necessity for someone without a job. Maybe I'll go ahead and get Lasik soon......
All that before breakfast. So I felt like something low-maintenance and easy. Cereal is basically comfort food for me, so I indulged in some Quaker oat squares, Craisins and mango that I sucked at cutting.
And then I noticed creepy bug bites all over my right leg. Apparently something devoured me over night! For a second I freaked out because last night I FOUND AND KILLED A SCORPION INSIDE MY HOUSE. And shrieked and flipped for about 10 minutes. J.D. let me handle it alone and I still am creeped out by it. But, I guess killing it doesn't cause it to secrete out poisonous liquid and leave spider-like bites on your body several hours later. Or, so I'm hoping.
I believe I captured a baby one of these in my living room:
*Shudders* Ugh. Anyways, I made myself keep busy in order to ignore the itching sensation of the bug bites. So I watered all the plants in the backyard. I did something as menial as cutting stray strings off my hand towels (hello OCD), filled in nail holes left by the previous tenants, painted the scuff marks previous tenants had left on our white walls and did a few loads of laundry. So far it's working out alright. I haven't felt the need to scratch.
Woodstock and I watched tv for a bit and then I had a strong desire to research some design elements to decorate our kitchen/living room area. I really want to go this route, wine and French vintage posters. We'll see what J.D. thinks about it :) I guess we should hit up Home Goods and Bed, Bath and Beyond first to see what's out there.
I loooove vintage French and travel posters. I decorated my dorm/room in college with these mini postcards. I think we need to stick with reds and yellows to match the tablecloth and kitchen accessories we already have.
Then lunchtime rolled around and I scrounged up some items from the fridge to make a mega veggie sandwich. I loaded veggies on a toasted whole wheat English muffin with spinach artichoke hummus spread in between the slices. It was awesome! I've never had carrots, olives and celery inside a sandwich before, but if they all go well with hummus, why not?!
And on the side I tapped into my inner child with a twist on apples and peanut butter. I sliced up my apple and swirled together dark chocolate almond spread and almond butter. YUMMY :) And washed it all down with a large glass of homemade chocolate skim milk. I mean, if I'm eating like a kid anyways....
Apparently my sweet tooth was still raging, so I downed a few of these:
After lunch, I got a call from our property manager that something else was wrong. We apparently live in such a stuck-up area that we aren't allowed to park on the street!!! I was also told, upon signing the lease, that if any oil spills/leaks are found in the garage/driveway, we will be charge for it upon move-out. My car is notorious for dripping oil and fluids so I thought I was on the safe side by parking it on the street with the garage still full of items to move. Guess not. TGIF I guess.
It didn't end there, surprise. My knee and ankle began to bother me, so I did some stretches and exercises with my resistance band for a while.
How do you like my rockin' kinesiotape?!? (hah, get it, Rock Tape??) And check out the toys around the floor. Someone doesn't know how to pick up after himself! Another struggle I've been dealing with today is trying to keep the puppy off our brand new couches! Eventually, I gave in for a little bit, so he wouldn't hurt himself jumping down. It's a good thing I let him, otherwise I never would have seen this little episode.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone! Hope Friday the 13th treated you better than it did me :) At least we're going to see Dinner for Schmucks tomorrow! Can't wait. I should have seen the original French version first, but in my extensive experience watching French films, I know they can be a bit weird. We'll see if that gets lost in translation or not...
